With a few of my go-to NHL teams painfully self-imploding down the stretch, I’ve been forced to show interest in teams I don’t usually care about… for example the NY Islanders. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a warm fuzzy feeling when they fired Head Coach Jack Capuano. I’ve never seen an NHL Coach with a more passive aggressive astrology chart. But that’s another blog.

Right now, I’m kinda digging the energy around Josh Ho-Sang. He’s posting solid numbers in his short run and more importantly he seems to have had a plug-n-play impact on the Islanders’ roster. Anytime I see a new addition quickly produce, I gotta do my thing… run their chart…

Ho-Sang’s Go-To Temperament

Operating under the obvious back story of his hard-earned road to the NHL and a litany of stats to support him – it goes without saying that Josh Ho-Sang’s got chops. But what I like to look at is how players leverages their skills under pressure, hold up mentally and deliver consistently. Ho-Sang’s chart says a lot…

Basically this kid is a confident and self-auditing player. Meaning, he doesn’t really need a lot of smoke blown up his ass by a coach or media. He’s his own judge and jury with regards to how well he plays. He enjoys variety and isn’t wedded to “this is how things should be done.” This is great for an organization like the Islander who are in transition and lack any real leadership at the top.

When it comes to hockey he’s definitely a glass half-full kinda guy which again, for the Islander is much needed. His chart gives him the ability to relate and get along with just about anyone. He’s very non-judgmental and is more about moving forward then pointing finger.

His game time presence is all about creativity and unpredictability. He prefers to never do the same thing twice. He sees his game as always evolving and is ok with taking risks. This can be good and bad depending on the organization, current roster and line parings. For now…with the current roster… he can’t do anything but improve it.

Line Mate Compatibility

It’s not entirely surprising that he’s gravitated toward Anthony Beauvillier. As line mates they have an 80% compatibility score (anything above 75% is considered good). This kind of instant chemistry contributes greatly toward making a player feel comfortable with their game and produce more quickly. These two obviously are having fun and get along great but struggle without a stronger complementary player to bring their execution game and Luck % up. This means, these two make ideal line mates with a more seasoned and consistent ringer.

Looks like Ho-Sang but isn’t…

It’s always interesting to see which players in the league have similar birth compositions. In league of 750+ active players… very rarely are any two player’s charts exactly the same (ok…the Sedin twins but they don’t count cause I’m pretty sure they’re robots) But there are always a few players with similar temperaments, attitudes and overall effectiveness.

Ho-Sang’s chart is extremely similar to:

I can see some similarities between Fabbri and Ho-Sang’s on-ice presence. Aside from not being a defensemen, Ho-Sang has shown a bit of the Ekblad physicality. Don’t know enough about Dvorak’s play but it will be interesting to see if comparisons get made over time.

Bottomline

I like that the Islanders are making this stretch interesting. Maybe Ho-Sang can get the uptight Virgo Tavares to crack a smile and enjoy life again. Although I doubt it.

Join in the Conversation

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook and let us know what you think. Join the discussion and give us ideas on what you’d like to read!

About author

Jessica Abel

Ten years of astrology and entertainment publishing experience combined with a love of sports and all things competitive, I write about what drives people toward greatness. Writing, consulting and providing insightful perspectives to athletes, coaches and teams is what I get paid to do.